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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26701882">The Weight of Duty</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullmetal_64/pseuds/fullmetal_64'>fullmetal_64</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Chivalry, F/M, Pining, Unrequited Love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:48:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,749</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26701882</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullmetal_64/pseuds/fullmetal_64</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Seth has been worried for Eirika's safety since she sent him to accompany Ephraim. With news of Jehanna Hall's fall and Eirika's entanglement in the siege, Seth's anxieties grow worse. A one-shot about Seth and Eirika's frustrated romance in the midst of the war.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eirika/Seth (Fire Emblem)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Weight of Duty</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi, hi! This fic came after a night of raving about the <em>elite</em> FE8 pairing that is Seth and Eirika with my mutual on Twitter (hi Jun!) and... that's all this is! A somewhat angsty fic about the struggle of a knight holding himself back from courting his lady in favor of his chivalry and code of honor. I took some liberties with the in-battle conversation between Seth and Eirika to make it more angsty and fit in their A-support. I might just turn this into a series of one-shots if I feel like it. Anyway, hope you enjoy!</p><p>Also wrote this to take a break from writing my FE3H Bysithea fic, To Share a Lifetime (shameless plug: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23331778/chapters/55890805)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Seth has been worried headless since news of Jehanna Hall’s fall at the hands of the Tiger Eye and the Moonstone arrived at Grado Keep with nary a moment to rest after the grueling siege of the capital city. What had happened of Eirika? Would they make it in time to save her and her companions?</p><p>The Silver Knight always kept a level head, but after weeks of being separated from his liege, his anxiety for the safety of his liege, the future queen of Renais, had only intensified. No, this was more than that. He worried for the safety of <em>Eirika</em>, not his master, not his liege, and not even his nation’s future queen. He worried for the safety of <em>Eirika</em>, the woman who had stolen his heart, and the only force in the world capable of making him forget his duty as a knight.</p><p>Though it was his duty as a knight to go where his liege ordered him to go, in his heart, he wished he had accompanied Eirika to Rausten. How he wished he had waxed selfish to protect her in her mission, not as a knight of Renais, but as <em>Seth.</em>.. as her man and her lover. How he wished he had cast aside his duty.</p><p>Eirika was strong, but brash like her brother. Seth knew this. If she were to put herself into danger’s jaws, and lose her life over her brashness...</p><p>The thought pains him. He could not bear to even think it.</p><p>If they were even a moment too late, a deep and immutable sorrow would await them. And for Seth, the thought was cause enough for him to feel anger that could not be contained.</p><p>He was ready to speak out of turn to his current liege, and advise that the army march to Jehanna Hall at the soonest possible time. Luckily for him, he did not have to. Ephraim was headstrong and decisive. Brazen, even.</p><p>In the presence of the court messenger, Ephraim issued the army’s orders. March to Jehanna Hall, and save his sister. Without even a wink of sleep or a second to breathe, the blue-haired lance-wielding Lord and his troops made for the desert.</p><p>Tired as he was from his pivotal role in retaking of Grado’s capital, the urgency of their mission quickened his mind and fortified his body. He was on full alert, ready to spring into battle the moment he saw that flash of beautiful, teal hair that he would recognize anywhere in the world. His eyes burned with a fervor redder than his crimson locks.</p><p>The march was long. Seth’s mind was transfixed on rescuing Eirika throughout the whole ride. Without knowing how many hours had passed, the refreshing greenery eventually made way for scorching sands.  The Jehanna Desert. They had reached their destination.</p><p>On the far end of his vision, Seth can make out the burning Jehanna Hall... and glints of metal where teal hair followed the graceful movements of a rapier-wielding battle maiden.</p><p>
  <em>Eirika is alive!                                          </em>
</p><p>Seth breathes a sigh of relief, and a smile escapes his normally stern, collected face. He makes the report to Ephraim, but his mind is elsewhere.</p><p><em>I must go to meet Eirika.</em> His patience is wearing thin.</p><p>“I shall go ahead to scout, milord. If you will allow me, I shall rendezvous with Eirika and her companions to aid her.” Seth’s tone is urgent.</p><p>Ephraim nods with understanding. “Then I shall leave this to you, Seth. I expect you to keep my sister safe while the rest of my men and I take the Tiger Eye and Moonstone. I trust you with her life.”</p><p>“Of course, milord. We... I cannot lose her.”</p><p>Eirika’s twin smiles. “Then go!”                    </p><p>Cavalry is slow to move through the shifting sands of a desert, but Seth pushes on, cutting down both bandits and Grado soldiers alike. So long as they stood in the way of him and his reunion with Eirika, nothing would be spared.</p><p>The sweltering heat was nothing. The blinding brightness of the sun was nothing. The endless hordes of enemies were nothing. So long as it stood between him and Eirika, it was nothing to him.</p><p>What seems like hours come to pass, with Seth fending off mobs of the desperate enemy.</p><p>Finally, he and his horse get close enough to Eirika’s party for him to call out to them.</p><p>“My lady!”</p><p>Eirika strikes down a fighter before taking her focus off the battle to find the source of the all-too-familiar voice. Seth does not think it possible to lay his eyes on anything brighter than the noonday sun. He is wrong.</p><p>The smile on Eirika’s face is positively radiant. Seth is convinced that her smile in that moment is brighter than any Light magic. Brighter than even Saint Latona’s most powerful magic. Brighter than even Ivaldi.</p><p>For just a moment, Seth forgets he is a knight, and his heart flutters for Eirika. He throws himself off his horse to meet with the princess, who is running toward him.</p><p>“Seth!” Eirika calls out in response.</p><p>Behind her, Saleh shouts a warning, “Princess! A mercenary slipped past me! Please watch yourself!”</p><p>Like clockwork, a sword-bearing mercenary springs behind her, ready to cleave the distracted princess.</p><p>What a mistake it is for anyone to dare lay a finger on Renais’s princess in the presence of Renais’s fiercest knight. The same knight who dares to be in love with the princess.</p><p>Seth vaults into the air, using his lance like a pole vault. In midair, he unleashes a flurry of calculated strikes with the back of his lance. One strike to the head, another to the sword arm, and the last strike to the sword: a disarming blow.</p><p>
  <em>Clang!</em>
</p><p>The mercenary is quick work for Seth, who neutralized the threat using the long reach of his silver lance. The blade flies out of the mercenary’s hand and sinks into the shifting sands. A moment later and the unconscious body of the would-be killer falls into a crumpled heap far from the dune of Seth and Eirika’s reunion.</p><p>Seth was able to protect Eirika yet again. He was just in time. <em>Thank the gods.</em> Still, now that he was standing before the princess, his code of honor binds him, and he keeps his feelings in check, swallowing down his love in favor of his responsibility.</p><p>“Princess, you must be more careful...”</p><p>“I... I apologize for my carelessness, but... I was just so happy to see you again,” Eirika blushes.</p><p>The sight of Eirika’s flustered face is almost enough to let his guard down. For him to hear Eirika admit that she was happy to see him? Seth is lucky that he was able to keep himself together. Had he been any less of a knight, he would have succumbed to the temptation to confess his unknightly feelings to his liege.</p><p>“No more of that. Are you well?” Seth deflects his own emotion in favor of his duty.</p><p>“Yes, I am. But if you’re here, then...”</p><p>“Prince Ephraim is safe. I shall fight by your side. We will stop the remaining enemy forces here, but promise me you would take caution and think of your own safety over mine.”</p><p>Eirika’s brow furrows in concern.</p><p>“I... I will. Thank you, Seth. You’ve always been there to save me since the fall of Renais. But I want to protect you, too. How is your lance arm?”</p><p>The princess takes Seth’s lance arm, inspecting it for any signs of lingering injury. In taking his arm, he is able to see a few new scars on Eirika’s hands and arms. She must have been through many difficult battles. His heart sinks to realize that he was not with her to protect her from whatever forces created those scars. How could he ever be worthy of her love? He was a failure of a knight, and he would be a failure of a lover.</p><p>“Remember what I told you, Lady Eirika... You do not owe me a debt for this wound. Do not concern yourself for me. I am your knight, and you are my queen.”</p><p>“I know this, Seth. But the truth is I do not know how long I can forgo my attachments to you in favor of my country. Even now... even now, I waver in your presence.”</p><p>Seth’s instinct screams at him to hold the lady in his arms, but his knightly chivalry stays his arms from cradling the princess.</p><p>“I am sorry, princess, but this is my duty. We must go.”</p><p>Eirika wants nothing more than to throw herself into Seth’s arms. To be held. She wants nothing more than for Seth to embrace her in his warmth. But she knows that they cannot. Not now. And maybe not ever.</p><p>“Then answer me this. Do you still feel the same way? Do you still wish to take me and leave everything behind?”</p><p>“... More than anything, Princess Eirika. I promised you I would never forget my duty in that way again, but it seems I have failed.”</p><p>“Then take me! I will be happy wherever you decide to take me...”</p><p>“I cannot do that. Not while I am a sworn Knight of Renais. And not while you are heir apparent to the throne.”</p><p>Silence falls around them and only them, as the battle continues around them.</p><p>“I am sorry for my selfishness,” Eirika’s eyes are painted with hurt, tears welling up and threatening to fall down her cheeks.</p><p>“And I am sorry for my duty. Let us go.”</p><p>For the first time in his life, Seth curses the station of his birth, and he curses the burden of knighthood.</p><p>For the first time in her life, Eirika curses the station of her birth, and she curses the burden of royalty.</p><p>The weight of duty plagues both knight and princess. Seth cannot help but to think that had he not been a knight. Had he been born a noble... then maybe, just maybe, she and Eirika could have been together.</p><p>But these are not thoughts fit for a battlefield, and the fight will be long and hard-fought. Their silence is deafening.</p><p>They were supposed to be happy to be together again, but as before, duty comes in between them. So close, yet so far. Both Seth and Eirika have yet another reason to weep on their lonesome in the dead of night.</p><p>The battle rages on, both on the battlefield, and in their hearts.</p>
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